Getting ready for Christmas

It's been busy in Whimzy land - life with 3 children and running a business means that I really have no time to do anything!

Today - I decided to have a little fun and make whimsical Christmas decorations.  I have a stash of beads, buttons and jewellery making equipment.  A quick look in Pinterest for some inspiration and here's what I made.  Colourful Christmas tree ornaments.  They're so much fun to make.  I had a little help from Dee and my 3 children when they got in from school.  I think they'll add a splash of colour to any tree.

Photo Challenge Day 1 - UFOs

I really did intend to photograph all my UFO's (UnFinished Objects and long abandoned projects), except that 1 September fell on a Sunday and that means hubby is around the house.  It would take me a fair few hours to dig around the stash and project piles to find ALL the UFOs I have.  I'd have to also admit how many uncompleted things I have!!  I don't think I'm ready to do that.

The longest UFOs I have is Mr Mouse - I started him when I was in University (nearly 25 years ago!)  He was a little stuffed toy that just needed some eyes and ears but because he was my first stuffed toy, he was a bit wonky so I never finished him.  I'm sure he's hiding somewhere in a deep, dark corner at the bottom of a cupboard.

I also have a cardigan which I started for my daughter when she was born.  It was little wrap cardigan in a Dusky Pink colour in Rowan 4ply soft.  She grew too quickly for me to finish that.  And when my second daughter came along, I thought I'd finish that for her, but that never happened too.  I'm such a bad mummy!!

I did manage to take some photos of UFO's that I did manage to find.  This is a crochet blanket that I started 2 or 3 years ago.  I was doing quite well until I ran out of the cream yarn.  I have managed to find more yarn, now for some motivation to finish the blanket.  It might be a lap blanket........

This hexagon is supposed to be a Norah Gaughan tank.  I don't even remember why I didn't continue with it.  Maybe I'll knit a second hexagon and make it into a little bag for one of my daughters.

FO Friday

I want to showcase another beautiful FO in Sokkusu O.  This is Afternoon Tea Shawlette, by Helen Stewart.  The pattern is in Knitty.  It was knitted by Dee.  The colourway is Haymitch - a semi-solid pale blue.  

And if you head over to Dee's blog - you'll notice that she's running a Yarn Photo-A-Day Challenge.  I'm definitely going to participate as I've noticed that I don't take as many photos any more - not of my children, or my knitting (maybe because I've not done much!) or just generally.  I'm looking forward to where this journey takes me.  I'm a bit frightened by Day 1 already - UFOs - where shall I start?  I'm not sure if I could fit it all into 1 shot!  #YARNPADC - come join us in Flickr, Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr.

Another work in progress

It has been lovely visiting my parents in Kuala Lumpur.  I can't believe that we've been here almost 3 weeks and it's almost time to head back to London.

The nice thing about being on holiday is the holiday projects.  This time I took 1 knitting project and 1 crochet project.

With my knitting project, I wanted to knit a sample in the Silkie Merino in the fingering weight.  So I jumped on the bandwagon and started a Song of the Sea cowl, by Louise Zass-Bangham.  Here's the link to the pattern on Ravelry.  OMG - I love the Silkie Merino base.  I think I might make myself a top in that base.  It's perfect for this warmer weather.  This is the progress so far.  I just have one repeat of the large waves left to go.  Hopefully, this won't take much longer......  The colour is a silvery lilac (it has more variegation in real life) which I may name Daenerys.

And my other project is a crochet project.  My intention is to make a blanket in all the colourways of Sokkusu O.  Well, I say all, but I don't have all of the colourways, especially the one hit wonders.   The pattern is from Purl bee - Bear's Rainbow blanket.  The link is here. Here's the progress so far. It's going to be a long term project!!!

A newly completed project

I can't believe in the recent heatwave, I finally finish a woolly scarf.  The pattern is Lace Ribbon Scarf by Veronik Avery.  It's a free knitty pattern - available here.  The yarn is Sokkusu X in Spruced Up, a club colour from last year.  It took 1.3 skeins of yarn.  I knitted it in 4mm needles.

I'm really pleased that I've finally finished this.  It feels amazingly squishy and soft.  I'm glad the weather isn't right to wear the scarf.  I'm happy to wait a few months before I need to wear it!

A new KAL

Over on the Ravelry group, we are running another KAL.  This time we're knitting a shawl.  The pattern is Holden Shawlette.  It's a fairly straightforward pattern.  I had knitted one ages ago in Sunshine Yarns.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lingy143/5729960854/sizes/o/in/set-773527/

It's time for me to knit another one in one of the Whimzy yarns.  I think I've decided to try one of the new yarn bases - Silkie (a merino/silk blend in fingering weight).  I would cast on straight away, except I can't find a single pair of 4mm needles.

Feel free to join us in this knit-along.  There's no requirement to use Whimzy yarns.  Just have fun!

New sock book by Rachel Coopey

Talented designer Rachel Coopey (coopknits on Ravelry) has a new sock book out.  The books are available here : http://coopknits.bigcartel.com/.

We had started a KAL on the Whimzy ravelry group here : http://www.ravelry.com/groups/whimzy

The first pattern for the KAL was Calamint which was knitted in Sokkusu (in Summer Crush) in the book.  It's a gorgeous pattern and quite straightforward, which is perfect for my no-brain knitting.

I've knitted less repeats for the leg as I don't like long socks.  Now I just need to find the motivation to finish sock number 2! The yarn is Sokkusu O in Hydrangea.

A promise to .....

blog more often.  I used to have personal craft blog, many moons ago, where I updated it regularly, had followers, followed others.  But that fell to the wayside.....  Then I decided to start this blog as part of Whimzy, to share colour inspirations, behind the scenes look at yarns, sharing projects and WIPs etc, but a month on, I have failed miserably.

Must.Do.Better.  Really, I must!

I've been really busy organising the new studio, getting new yarn bases and test dyeing them.

Here's a sample of some the new yarn bases:

 Lorelai - (From L to R) in Laceweight merino/silk, Fingering weight Merino/Silk, Fingering weight Merino/Nylon high twist, Single ple merino

Lost Meadow wannabe (these came out very green and pale but still gorgeous)
(From L to R) in Laceweight merino/silk, Fingering weight Merino/Silk, Fingering weight Merino/Nylon high twist, Single ple merino

Queenie
(From L to R) in Laceweight merino/silk, Fingering weight Merino/Silk, Fingering weight Merino/Nylon high twist, Single ple merino

What do you think?  Do you like any of these bases?

A new day, a new adventure.....introducing Whimzy

A big change took place in February this year.  I had been working with Alice on Socktopus for the last year and a half and I'd been getting ready to transfer the business to Hong Kong, where Alice is based.  When suddenly, Alice made me an interesting offer on the Sokkusu business.  One which I was really tempted by......

So, here I am, two months along, with a new company, new studio space but essentially doing the same thing that I'd been doing for the last year and the half - dyeing Sokkusu yarns.  I won't lie, it's been a steep learning curve with regards to setting up a business, designing a website, getting workspace, getting a logo designed..... this is list goes on.  In fact, there still much to do, but I'm getting there.

The website is ready(ish) - it's here.  I'll be offering most of the old Sokkusu colourways on the website as well as creating lots of new ones.  My first collection is based on a deep yearning for Spring and Summer   as we've been stuck in this never-ending cold spell since late September.  The first snowflakes were fun and interesting but now, months later, I've had enough of the grey and the cold.  I need some warmth and some splash of colour.  What do you think of the collection?

From left to right:

Top row - Hydrangea, Spring Storm, Hyacinth, Cornflower, LFB, Green Apple

Bottom row - Fuchsia, Dusky Rose, Madder, Tulip, Goldenrod, Daffodil

Over the coming months I intend to produce a range of colours as well as increasing the yarn range.  As well as stocking popular colours, I will be introducing new colourways every few months.  I am looking forward to producing a range inspired by the upcoming Hunger Games movie.  Please feel free to post any suggestions or ideas you have on the blog with the best suggestions receiving a little surprise from me.

As a final incentive, I am offering a 15% discount for all orders made through the website until 21 April.

Thank you for joining me on this journey!

Ling x